Chapter 582

Yan Buji, who had fallen into the sea, recovered some strength in no time and woke up, looking at the storage bag and a corpse handed over by the Martial Avatar, he nodded in satisfaction.

"I haven't raised you for nothing."

The Martial Avatar stood silently to the side; after two hundred years of cultivation, this Martial Avatar had reached mid‑Golden Core, progressing far faster than Yan Buji's own cultivation.

Moreover, it required no resource expenditure; this plot against Ling Yan was a gamble that she would not dare to fight to the death, a gamble that she would flee, so I released the Martial Avatar ahead of time when unleashing the Heavenly Fire to surround her, while I charged forward to confuse Ling Yan, securing victory with the final strike!

If the Martial Avatar failed to complete this task, Yan Buji would absolutely annihilate it, because if his own essence, energy, and spirit were to betray his thoughts and he could not perish together with the enemy, there would be no point in keeping it.

"Finally dealt with that troublesome guy." Yan Buji reached out and dug out the corpse's two eyes.

Looking at this pair of eyes, Yan Buji pinched his chin to seal them, planning to study them later before absorbing them.

As for Ling Yan's tattered corpse.....

Yan Buji snorted coldly, sealed it properly and put it away for future use.

Her nascent soul seems to have gone into reincarnation; Yan Buji can't do anything about it, and being able to kill the opponent under those circumstances was already not bad.

"Damn it! Dealing with Ling Yan alone is this difficult; I really don't know how troublesome that Xiao Ran will be."

Yan Buji was heavily wounded all over, with upper and lower wounds still oozing blood; he could only flee this place to find a secluded spot to temporarily nurse his injuries.

A year passed.

After his wounds healed, Yan Buji finally opened Ling Yan's storage bag and took stock of his gains.

Aside from a batch of women's clothing, Yan Buji discovered many spirit pills and secret manuals.

"Not exactly precious, but why would there be two six‑turn immortal accumulations?"

Yan Buji examined them; the two six‑turn immortal accumulations were one armor and one pair of boots, and when he tried them on they were indeed much better than the accumulation devices he himself had refined.

"Usable, I can make use of them. However, they all contain wind‑Dao attributes, which don't suit me."

Yan Buji didn't mind, wearing them for self‑protection.

I don't know whether Ling Yan didn't use these two immortal accumulation artifacts because she had armor protecting her body, which would indicate that these two immortal accumulation artifacts were not forged by her.

"Could it be that Xiao Ran forged them?" Yan Buji felt a bit curious, after all he had previously seen Xiao Ran take action, and that kid seemed to possess quite a few immortal accumulation artifacts as well.

Ling Yan had a close relationship with him, so receiving his gift was not surprising.

Thinking that, Yan Buji took off the two immortal accumulation artifacts he had put on, placed them in his storage bag, and sealed them for future use.

Immediately afterward, Yan Buji roughly tallied his gains.

One six‑turn celestial pill, four bottles of five‑turn medicinal pills, two types of six‑turn immortal material, twelve types of five‑turn spiritual material, the rest not counted.

There were also a thousand medium‑grade spirit stones, and even ten high‑grade spirit stones; Yan Buji had never seen high‑grade spirit stones before.

"I've heard that high‑grade spirit stones are rare even for nascent soul and divine transformation cultivators; I didn't expect Ling Yan to have them." Yan Buji chuckled, considering it a boon for himself.

High‑grade spirit stones are not merely currency; refining some celestial pills and immortal accumulation artifacts requires the pure spiritual energy of high‑grade spirit stones as an aid, making them more like an extremely rare resource.

Merely using them to restore mana is the lowest‑grade application.

"This is....."

Yan Buji frowned, took out a yellowed ancient book and began to flip through it.

"Eternal Spring Technique?"

Yan Buji's past memories surged like a tide, recalling how he had almost been schemed to death by the Kūn Gate Master in the Nan Ting Mountain Region.

"The Ling Jia family's heirloom martial art is actually a cultivator's technique? No....."

Yan Buji carefully examined the Eternal Spring Technique, discovering that this technique likely requires the Ling Jia bloodline to cultivate, or rather....

"Some kind of prerequisite is necessary; otherwise this Eternal Spring Technique is no better than an ordinary qi‑refining method."

Yan Buji frowned, suddenly recalling Ling Yan's pair of eyes: "Could it be an eye technique?"

Not entirely clear, but this might be related to the Ling Jia ancestor Ling Tianmei, so Yan Buji won't investigate further for now.

After finishing sorting his gains, Yan Buji left the temporary cave dwelling.

This haul was not small, but compared to the losses, although Yan Buji had slain a major threat, the armor he had painstakingly forged was basically ruined; he would have to reforge it, which would also consume considerable effort.

Before that, Yan Buji planned to first make a trip to the Dragon People to obtain the Flesh‑Sacrificing Pill, break through to the nascent soul stage of his mana, and then decide what to do next.

Thus, Yan Buji set out again.

Having arrived at the mysterious current he had visited before, drifting with it to the vicinity of the Frozen Winter Ocean, Yan Buji proceeded by circling around the Asking Void Palace.

Half a month passed.

Yan Buji was flying over the Frozen Winter Ocean when he suddenly saw several outsiders battling a sea monster; he stopped to observe the situation.

"Fox folk, water spirits, and Dragon People?"

Having identified the identities of those three outsider cultivators, Yan Buji saw that they seemed about to be forced into desperation by that sea beast, so after a moment's thought he still intervened.

Yan Buji flew over, used a single spell technique to subdue the ferocious monster, drove it away, and then looked at the cultivators present.

These few outsider cultivators were only at Foundation Establishment, yet they dared to face a demon king; truly commendable courage.

"Many thanks, senior, for saving my life."

"Senior, who are you?"

Yan Buji thought for a moment, shifted back into his original half‑dragon person form, and said, "This seat is Yan Buji."

"Is it you? A former king of an era!"

That Foundation Establishment Dragon Person became excited, almost kneeling before Yan Buji.

"Who are you?"

"Former king, I am Wang Long'an, and Wang Man is my grandfather."

"Huh?"

"Wang Man even has a grandson?"

Yan Buji's expression turned odd; sensing Wang Long'an's aura, he really was a descendant of Wang Man.

"Since you are the grandson of an old friend, there's no need for excessive courtesy."

"Former King, you will always be the sovereign of the Dragon People; the Dragon People have developed to this point today, all thanks to your merit!" Wang Long'an said excitedly.

The two Foundation Establishment outsiders nearby, upon hearing this and seeing their companions' attitude, naturally didn't dare think further.

Yan Buji shook his head.

The development of the Dragon People actually has little to do with me; if I had to say, it's the Demon King pulling the strings behind the scenes, and I'm merely a puppet.

Back when I first left the Dragon People, I also sensed that the Demon King seemed to want to use the Dragon People for something, so after making preparations, I voluntarily resigned and left.

It's not that he doesn't care about the Dragon People's assistance; he's just worried about being bound by the Demon King to his war chariot, being used as a forward pawn.

Now that he has returned, Yan Buji naturally also wants to inquire about the situation in the Frozen Winter Ocean; these few outsiders happen to be handy.

"Let's not talk about the rest for now; what are you doing here?"

"Your Majesty the Former King, we were out training; we originally wanted to look for Spiritual Material nearby, but unexpectedly we encountered a Monster King blocking our way—fortunately, Your Majesty the Former King timely intervened!" Wang Long'an laughed.

Yan Buji nodded, then asked: "How is the situation in the Frozen Winter Ocean now?"

"Uh..." the three outsiders exchanged a glance, looking somewhat at a loss.

Yan Buji frowned: "What's wrong?"

"A very capable person went to the Snow Folk tribe and caused a big disturbance, then went to the Monster clan's royal court and fought the Monster Emperor, and now has run to our Dragon People's Boundless Sea Trench."

Huh?

Yan Buji suddenly thought of something and asked: "You mean that person is a woman?"

"Huh? Your Majesty the Former King, you know too?"

Indeed, it's that guy.